Gentry
"Perspectives"
May, 2007 |
Results, Not Excuses
Finding Resolve
Christine VanDeVelde lays out reasons why, after all the diets that came
before, the Gregoreks' program was the one that finally worked.
When you’ve lost more than fifty pounds and are still happily following
a diet and exercise program after more than a year, you spend some time
thinking about why, after all the diets that came before, this one
worked. Believe me, it isn’t that all of a sudden I decided to get
serious. In fact, there are concrete reasons that the program developed
by Jerzy and Aniela Gregorek produced results.
Now, to be fair to you the reader and to my diet
gurus, I am not going to lay out all the specifics of the Gregoreks’
program for you here. First of all, it’s not possible – it is detailed,
comprehensive, and highly personalized to each client -- and their
clients vary from housewives looking to lose weight to elite athletes
trying to come back from injuries. Also, the Gregoreks’ are in the
business of helping people and I’m not going to give away their trade
secrets. If you want to fully understand their program, you should make
an appointment with them.
Nevertheless, I believe I can give you an overview
of why their program worked for me that will give you some insight into
what they offer and whether or not it might work for you, as well.
First of all, the program is quite easy to follow.
As I’ve noted in earlier columns, it’s a lifestyle, not a diet, but the
Gregoreks are used to working with busy people with demanding lives and
they’ve honed the program to reflect those circumstances. So, you can
stay on the program whether you’re traveling to New York or London,
attending black tie balls or soccer tournaments, or just meeting your
girlfriends at the Left Bank for lunch.
That said, the diet is restrictive. After my first
meeting with Jerzy Gregorek, I came home and told my husband I didn’t
know if I could do it. During the weight loss stage of the program,
there is no white sugar, no white flour and no fruit. It was almost
November then, the holiday season was upon us and visions of sugar
cookies danced in my head. My husband reminded me that a person can do
anything for a week. And here’s a pivotal aspect of the
Gregoreks’program that has made it successful for me and others – in the
first week, I lost seven pounds. Behavioral scientists will tell you an
early win like this is crucial in creating lasting change. I was
thrilled and my only thought was “I can do this for another week.” Who
cares about Thanksgiving's mashed potatoes and onion tart, when True
Religion jeans loom in your future?
But the no white sugar, no white flour rule was
crucial in another respect, as well. You feel full and satisfied all day
long on this diet, because combined with the programs’ tenet that you
eat every three hours, banishing white sugar and white flour effectively
eliminates cravings. This diet has made it clear to me that I am highly
sensitive to sugar. I should have known this -- if I eat seven jelly
beans, there isn’t enough food in Draeger’s to make me feel sated.
And that’s why a lot of other diets didn’t work.
Forget about programs that let you eat “a little of everything” like
Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig. When I ate a serving of one of their
desserts, it left me wanting to eat an entire sheet cake from the
bakery. I’m better off cutting sugar out entirely. That’s one of the
reasons why I regard this program as a lifestyle change and not just a
diet – it’s not a temporary stop-gap measure, but a true change in daily
behavior.
Best of all, you get to have your cake anyway on
the Gregoreks’ program, so to speak. Jerzy and Aniela have identified a
number of protein bars with unprocessed sugar and high levels of protein
that satisfy any chocolate or peanut butter cravings you’ll have. The
bars also make it easy to just say no under those circumstances that can
foil a dieter's best intentions, such as charity lunches where they’re
serving lobster bisque or days when you’re traveling nonstop through
airports lined in Cinnabon outlets.
The exercise portion of the Gregoreks’ program can
be followed with equal ease. The central focus is weightlifting, using
free weights. So no special or expensive equipment is really required,
you can do the routine in your home, and, if you travel, every gym in
every hotel or resort these days has free weights. The amount of time
required is not substantial – it’s about a 45-minute routine. Best of
all, there is no cardio! The Gregoreks believe and my cardiologist
concurs that the aerobic benefits of weightlifting are sufficient. For
years, I had slogged up Windy Hill and logged hour after hour on the
treadmill every single day. I was skeptical, but more than willing to
try an approach that got me out of my Adidas.
But my history working with weights still made me
leery. The first time I met with Jerzy, I told him that every time I
started a weight program with a trainer, I ended up injured in some way
after three months. Jerzy explained to me that most trainers come from
backgrounds in bodybuilding. “Bodybuilding,” he said, “is about how the
body looks. Weightlifting is about how the body works.” He assured me I
would not get hurt on his program. And he was right. With the exception
of days spent traveling or sick in bed, I have performed his weight
routine every single day for more than a year and never been injured.
And – this may be most important – every day I have enjoyed it.
I’m not trying to be coy when I tell you that there
is much more than this to working with Jerzy and Aniela Gregorek and to
their program. Aside from the additional tools and resources that are
part of it, I cannot emphasize enough the impact of working with the
Gregoreks personally, understanding their philosophy and reaping the
benefit of their fine-tuning of the diet and weight routine. But if you
met me over lunch and asked why something finally worked for me, this is
what I’d tell you about how I gave up cardio, Peeps, and Christmas
cookies and gained a stellar cholesterol count, Hermes belts, and,
finally, True Religion jeans. |
